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"Care to dance?" For some men, it's a question that is music to
the ears. For others, it's enough to induce apoplexy. Not everyone
wants to dance like Astaire or Nureyev, but many would be happy
simply to not have "two left feet", as the saying goes. Others are
content to not dance at all.

Yet whether a man dances or not, he still has a relationship
with dance, says Chunky Move artistic director Gideon Obarzanek. It
was something the dancer-choreographer decided to explore by making
a documentary.

So earlier this year, he set about finding men to interview and
film about their own relationships to dance, finding subjects
through his own network of friends and through dance clubs. He
spoke to more than 20 men, and from those selected 13 to interview.
As the interviews unfolded, so too did a new seed emerge.

"When I talked to different men about their experiences with
dance, as the interviews went on, a lot of them talked about other,
more personal things in their lives, and their opinions and
thoughts," says Obarzanek. "It became very interesting, but not
that relevant to the documentary I was making. But I found it
really fascinating, hearing these private things . . ."

And so the documentary was put on hold while Obarzanek set about
creating a new dance work inspired by those stories: I Want to
Dance Better at Parties, which opens tonight at Chunky Move's
Southbank studios.

The multimedia show features footage of five men speaking about
their relationship to dance. The subjects include Franc, a dance
music composer who doesn't dance, Jack, a retired
telecommunications engineer who devised a code for "notating" folk
dances, and Deon, a dance-loving young clubber. Six live dancers
perform a series of imagined private dances representative of the
subjects' inner lives.

It was one of Obarzanek's interviewees, a widowed father of two
named Phillip, who inspired the show's title.

"In his mid-40s, Phillip found himself as a single man for the
first time in 22 to 23 years," says Obarzanek. "He was at a party
and he tells the story of how he was dancing with a few women, and
he was having a pretty good time, and one woman came up to him
towards the end of the night and said 'Hey, maybe you should go get
some dance lessons, learn how to move your bum a bit more, loosen
up your shoulders'."

Incredibly, Phillip didn't take offence at the suggestion. "I
would have been crushed if someone said that to me," laughs
Obarzanek. ". . . So the next day he picked up the phone book and
rang up a dance school and said 'I want to dance better at
parties'."

Illustration:Square Dance!

Phillip ended up learning Latin ballroom, despite not really
wanting to learn a "structured" dance form, but enjoyed it. He now
goes several times a week, and has even begun dancing in
competitions.

Even Obarzanek admits he at times feels self-conscious dancing
in public.

"For me, I started being very comfortable with dance, that's
what got me into it," he says. "But as time's gone by, I'm less and
less comfortable. . . . Sometimes you go out and can become
self-conscious because someone may recognise you and go 'Oh,
there's Gideon, he's a choreographer, let's watch him dance.

"And I dance like a dag," he laughs. "As a social dancer,
there's nothin' fancy going on at all."

I Want to Dance Better at Parties, from tonight
until December 5 at Chunky Move Studios, 111 Sturt Street,
Southbank. Book on 9685 5111 or lastminute.com.

Gideon's tips for dancing better at parties

Have a drink, relax.

Don't overdress.

Wear clothes and shoes that you feel comfort able in.

Dance to music you like, other wise it can be hard work.

When you arrive at a club, go straight for the dance floor. The
longer you stand on the side staring at others, the more
self-conscious you will feel about dancing and being watched.

Go to big raves and bush-doofs where there are thousands of
people dancing. The music is often great and you are completely
anonymous and inconspicuous.

Dance with your little nieces and nephews. Kids are the coolest
dancers and they won't judge you. It's also heaps of fun.

Don't be forward on the dance floor. It's not the place for it
and women don't like it, unless you are already familiar.

If you are a stiff dancer, have a pair of crutches leaning
conspicuously close by, and wear some thing athletic. Women gush
for an injured sportsman making an effort.